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Hernando Today

An RV Paradise

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TONY HOLT

Published: February 9, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE - Whooping cranes aren't the only things migrating to the area this time of year.

This week, thousands of recreational vehicles parked throughout the Hernando County Airport for the 27th Annual Southeast Area Motor Coach Association Rally. Seminars were held in the smaller tents while more than a hundred vendors occupied the large tent.

Most of the people who attend RV rallies are the affluent retirees, but more and more middle age and young people are taking part.

"Baby boomers are our target market," said Mandalay salesman Joel Grimm. Dealers from all of the major RV manufacturers have been available since the rally began Wednesday.

"People here have waited their whole lives to travel the country," Grimm continued. "For some, it is home. For others, they travel for half the year."

A large portion of visitors come from the Midwest or Northeast. They will spend four to six months per year living out of their RVs in the Sunshine State to avoid the northern chill.

Fans of NASCAR often take a cross-country trip in an RV to check out a race out west or further north. One of those fans is Debbie Spencer of Spring Hill.

The divorcee uses hers both as a way to attend at least four NASCAR races every season with her friends or to go camping with her family. Either way, much of her recreational life centers on where she goes or what she does with her RV. She has been an avid road traveler since 1995.

"There's usually something good that happens (on the road) to take away the bad," she said.

Spencer goes to races in Daytona, Talladega, Al., Miami and Atlanta. She hopes in the near future to add Bristol, Tenn., to the schedule, but those tickets are harder to come by, she said.

Others spend their entire lives on the road. They bounce back and forth from north to south.

Don Snyder and Kathy Adams do not have an address. They spend six months out of the year in Florida and the other six months in Canada, Snyder's native home.

The couple met during a rally in Wildwood. Gas prices have gone up a lot since then, but they still think their lifestyle has more financial perks than if they had remained in the suburbs.

"The mobility is good," Snyder said. "If you don't like your neighbor, you can move … We don't pay property taxes, so that's good, too."

Every fall the couple return to the state where they met three years ago. Snyder has been a full-time RV driver since 2001. Adams has been doing it since 2004.

"You meet a lot of nice people on these trips," Adams said. "Most RVers are family and will help you. You don't always see that in a neighborhood."

The rally concludes today.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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